EPTOlder SC2 players - Page 9
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ThirdDegree
United States329 Posts
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tehemperorer
United States2183 Posts
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zeek0us
United States67 Posts
There's no difference between my inherent ceiling 10-15 years ago and today, aside from the direct correlation with how hard I can practice then and now. If I were back in undergrad and could bang out multi-hour focused, uninterrupted ladder sessions, I'm sure my mechanics and game sense would be much be much sharper. Just like my body fat % would be lower if I could still go to the gym an hour a day and my jump shot would be better if I could play pickup games a few times per week. My apm is high enough -- in fact I'm probably sharper mentally now than I was as an undergrad since I've moved on to get an advanced science degree and quit smoking/getting high/drinking every day -- but there's that little internal delay that comes with having to think about things rather than just doing them. The only way around that is enough good practice to commit mechanics to muscle memory and hone your in-game senses. The way I see, the proper path to improvement is to play a lot of games and get as much as you can out of them. For one thing, I don't analyze my play as carefully as I should -- I don't generally want to spend what little time I have to game reviewing replays when I could queue up another match. So I don't tend to wring that little bit of extra improvement out of each loss. Furthermore, I tend to need a handful of games to warm up and get past the "start up haze" that hovers over you before you get into the zone. Thus, if I only get to play a handful of games, I might not ever get into that zone, and that's where the effective practice happens. It's not about physical or mental limitations, at least not for me and at least not yet. It's about where a game that requires time and focused effort to improve at fits into your life when you're 16, 20, 25, or 35. Wives tend to be less understanding of videogame addictions once you're past 30. Work never gives a shit about your desire to game. Kids, especially very young kids, not only supersede gaming on a thorough and fundamental level, but also tend to require the sort of care and attention the precludes maintaining a productive playing-to-improve schedule. tl;dr -- until you're probably into your 40s for most people, it's changes in your life rather than your physical/mental ability that have the biggest impact on your gaming. You never have to outgrow gaming, but most people end up having to outgrow gaming like they did when they were 20. | ||
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Kasaraki
Denmark7115 Posts
But, age and e-sports are interesting. As most people have pointed out the issue with age is mainly pressure on having achieved certain goals, such as job, marriage, etc. Hard to play a lot with job and family, and taking the gamble of playing full-time is quite unnerving. But, have you seen the old martial arts masters? Their speed and flexibility can be quite impressive. I don't think there are physical limitations on older people, or at least not most, or if properly training. When you get older, you most often want or need to do certain things, studying, working, etc. But, I don't think there are mental or physical limitations, neccesarily. In the future, we might see more old pro-gamers. | ||
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PapaCool
Australia6 Posts
 Good to see so many players over 25, but is there any other players out there over 45 or 50 ? Come on guys show yourselves  | ||
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wUndertUnge
United States1125 Posts
As far as speed goes, it's difficult to tell. I'm always heads and tails above my non-gamer friends even at things like Super Mario Bros. In Starcraft, my APM (at least with a bugged out HoTS) sometimes hits 300. But I think in WoL it goes upwards of 200 even. Oh, Diamond. Top 25 to top 8 in wol (depending on how intoxicated or tired I am). High Diamond in HoTS! | ||
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Drlemur
United States153 Posts
On February 16 2013 07:03 PapaCool wrote: WOW, I never thought that kicking this thread off again would get so much interest. I definitely am slower than I used be 10yrs ago at 42, but what I do have I my favour now is "Controlled Aggression " muahahahahaha. Good to see so many players over 25, but is there any other players out there over 45 or 50 ? Come on guys show yourselves I turn 46 next week. Platinum terran in WoL, SIlver in beta HotS (for now at least).My 16yo son is Masters level and the age differences are easy to spot. Not just APM, but my visual awareness and ability to react to new information on screen is significantly slower/poorer. You can make a certain amount of it up by trying to stay ahead on focus and strategy, but it'll be limited. I'm still learning, though, so maybe if hellbats stay imba for a bit in HotS and I can get mech compositions to work against all races, it's remotely possible I'll crack Diamond someday. Maybe not though, for many of the reasons stated above about just trying to find enough time to practice (full-time job, 4 kids). But also because playing in the evening after work means I'm frequently not at my sharpest anyway. Also, I generally have a glass of wine or a beer by the keyboard when I play. Trying to climbing the ladder would probably mean playing less for fun in order to focus on playing at my best mental state. That's not too likely to happen since gaming is a distraction/relaxation for me. | ||
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PapaCool
Australia6 Posts
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Prplppleatr
United States1518 Posts
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absurd1883
11 Posts
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iAmJeffReY
United States4262 Posts
On February 16 2013 10:19 Prplppleatr wrote: We have white-ra representing toss and nestea representing zerg as the top, 30+, progamers. Boxer would be terran but he is coaching now, is there another terran? Terran destroys wrists. They stop playing before they can get there with broken, shattered wrists. | ||
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NEEDZMOAR
Sweden1277 Posts
On August 18 2010 17:48 Everlong wrote: Well the problem is that the passion for the game is extremly blinding. Of course, if you are 15 you can make Starcraft 2 prior to other things.. But as your age rises, you should see far behind a video game. I can tell you right now that I wont be able to compete at the top level, because Im not willing to give away whole period of my life.. Its also a big question wheter your family supports your way of thinking or not.. I belive there are lots of gamers out there that their parents dont have a clue.. Just look what happened to Morrow vs Huk last tournament, kinda funny.. :-) totally offtopic, but what happend? :> | ||
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c0sm0naut
United States1229 Posts
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Fliparoni
205 Posts
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Lokian
United States699 Posts
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Buffy
Sweden665 Posts
On February 16 2013 11:22 c0sm0naut wrote: a while ago a 55 (ish, i'm guessing) hired me to teach him some sc2 stuff. he had played broodwar and didntk now any of the units and things int he new game (said he didnt have time to learn from experience just wanted to know the basic ideas and have fun) i see him at church all the time, he is a forever bronze :D I just want to hug that dude for not quitting being a gamer at his age, | ||
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ElMeanYo
United States1032 Posts
I have to say that the game is really just a 'time-waster' for me as my wife would put it, but she puts up with it because she knows she married a long time gamer (been playing games since intellivision-atari-colecovision). Although I do play the game and enjoy it, I don't really have any aspiration to get to a higher rank or really get better at the game than I already am. I think in my younger years when I was more competitive at games it would have mattered to me but this perspective changes as you grow older and your overall priorities change. Games become less of an endeavor and more of an outlet for relaxation. The young gamer in me 'dies hard' however and I still enjoy competing when I can and probably still will in another 20 years. I just have one piece of advice for you younger gamers out there... treat your gaming as a part-time hobby and nothing more. Don't sacrifice your social skills and real-life friends for any game... get out there and make sure you are enjoying the other aspects of life. I know from first-hand that gaming can suck you in and become everything in your life... the male brain succumbs easily to such obsessions. At some point you will look back and wonder if you shouldn't have spent a few more hours with friends/family/girlfriend, whatever. Yes its true, your relationships with other human beings trump all else in this life, and will be most rewarding if you put effort into it. OK I'm off my little soap box now. Go back to your regular scheduled SC2 programming :p PS: Any of you older gamers my age reading this? PM me and we can play a few games sometime. It would be a rare pleasure to play with people of my age. | ||
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lonelyPotato
Australia158 Posts
On February 15 2013 21:23 ShamW0W wrote: 28, High-Masters on NA. The biggest difference with being older, imo, is just that the responsibilities just keep piling on so you have less time for gaming. When I was younger I could spend 8-10 hours playing Age of Empires no problem. Nowadays I try to sneak in an hour here or there and will occasionally spoil myself on a weekend with a ladder-fest.Speed-wise I haven't noticed much of a difference since, imo, speed is mainly dependent on focused repetition. At some age I'm sure physical limitations set in but I don't think that'd be any time before 35 unless you have arthritis or something fun like that. As a person who is getting his masters degree and is still living with his dad at age 25... I basically get to spoil myself 5 days a week xD | ||
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Franberra
12 Posts
 , mid/low gold at best if playing "proper"I do feel young whippersnappers have an edge, not just because they generally have less responsibilites and can play more: People around 20 seem much quicker to grasp the necessities to spend your apm on, and have better apm as well. I have no facts to base this on, just observing a few fellow players. | ||
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PapaCool
Australia6 Posts
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